Santa-Maria
Santa-Maria or 'The Mysterious Pregnancy' Fox, Joseph. Santa-Maria; Or, The Mysterious Pregnancy. A Romance ... Vol. 1-3. London: Printed for G. Kearsley, 1797. 18th Century Collections Online. Web. 'Link to the text found here: Link to Text' 'Summary of the Text:' On the morning after her wedding night, Santa-Maria is discovered by her mother, to be near death with a swollen belly. An explanation is demanded by those around her but Santa-Maria always having been chaste until her wedding night has no explanation for this sudden and apparent pregnancy. Her mother, fearing Santa-Maria’s father, sends her away disguised as a beggar until after she has the baby. Santa-Maria sets off to a Catholic Monastery; however Rodolph, her father unaware of the situation fears that something terrible has happened to Santa-Maria. ' '''On her journey to the monastery many weak attempts at gothic elemental events are thrown into the novel and an ex-monk by the name of Father Conrad takes over the storytelling for a brief period. [[]]He explains that an enemy of Santa Maria disguised himself as a monk and poisoned Santa-Maria so that she would appear sickly and near death to those around her. Then when a Brother would be called forth to perform rights upon Santa-Maria, he raped her. Father Conrad, witness to this horrible event left the monastery. ' 'In the end, Rodolph kills himself in grief over not being able to find Santa-Maria. However shortly later she is discovered and the rapist suffers torture and a public decapitation along with his accomplices. Santa-Maria and her daughter are reunited with her family and Rinaldo her lost love and happily Rinaldo inclines to adopt the illilegitmate baby. The happy reunion is celebrated with festivities and a reunion at a scared altar. ' 'About the Author: ' ''' Joseph Fox is from Brighton, England however, his birth and death date are unknown. He is commonly referred to as I. Fox, although the reason for this is also known. During Fox's lifetime a J. Fox founded the Duke Street Theatre in Brighton (1790) however, this J. Fox died in 1793 and it is thought that these men could not be one in the same. In addition, a medical man by the name of Joseph Fox resided in Britain and published well known texts on teeth and gums however, it is also unlikely that this man and the author Fox, are the same man given that Fox (the author) was so unsuccessful in his career. ''v '' 'Other Works:' Tancred, A Tale of Ancient Times, 1791 The Bastard of Normandy, A Tale on the Seine, 1793 'Critical Reception of 'Santa-Maria '''Santa-Maria recieved negative reviews all around for it's time period. Many critics felt that Fox was degrading the genre which Radcliffe had made so popular. If Fox wrote any other works after 'Santa-Maria' perhaps he chose to publish under another name after the reception this novel received. ' The Gentleman's Magazine & Chronicle stated that the novel lacked sentiment and was too absurd "even for a romance" (Decemeber 1798). The Monthly Review "''romance should be produced by the 'creative powers of the mind' not by the 'ravings of an extravagant imagination" (1797). ' 'The ''British Critic "''if the wonder working brains of novelists cannot produce more probable or agreeable fictions, we would advise them to descend forever to the safer regions of fact". ' '''Why is it Gothic?? Death Rape The Presence of Castles & Monastaries ''' '''Sense of Haste, Suspicion Usage of Disguises ' '''Explained Supernatural ' 'Usage of Potions by evilness ' '''Monks 'Why is not Gothic?' Aristocratic Characters Strong Heroine Characters feel remorse, guilt, fear Wedding Ceremony Happy Ending